Thanksgiving Meal Boxes

As a church one of our core values is foot washing, or service. And just as we strive to worship corporately through service, we also want to worship together as a family through service. One great opportunity we have is the preparation of Thanksgiving Meal Boxes. Providence Church is teaming with Frisco Family Services Center to provide low-income families, families in crisis, and senior citizens with these packages. All you need to do is purchase the items on the list, place them in a box, and bring the box to the church building on Sundays or to the church offices during the week. The deadline for dropping off your box is November 9th.

Now that I have given you the logistics, let me present a few ideas that you could use to involve your children in the process. Be sure to explain to them what you are doing and why. Let them know that one family will receive everything in the box that you choose for them. So on Thanksgiving Day they will be preparing and eating what you have chosen to give to them. Help them to pray for the family throughout the process.

• Read the list aloud as your children look through your pantry for items that you already have (make sure they haven't expired). Several things on the list you may already have such as canned fruit and vegetables, macaroni & cheese, or an extra bottle of mustard. Even children as young as 18 months could help in this way, finding food they know.


• Print out the kid-friendly list, and bring it as you and your children go to the grocery store to choose items for the family. Read over the list together so that they know what all the items are. Using the pictures, your child can help you find everything on the list (the optional items are not included in this list). This will help them be involved in the process and you may find that your preschooler or elementary child has more fun at the store than usual when they have a job to do. Give them a pen or crayon and they can even check off the items as you find them.


• Make a huge pile of all the items on the list you have found or purchased. Get your list and call out the items as you pack them into a box. Very young children can help find things, and older children will be practicing spacial reasoning and logic skills as they try to fit everything into the box and not crush anything in the process.


• Get your family together and make a Thanksgiving card from your family to theirs. Preschoolers can dictate kind words, older children can write their own thought, budding artists can draw pictures of turkeys and potatoes, babies can even add their own scribbling. Have each child sign their first name to the card. Let the family know you will be praying for them.


• Pray for the family that will receive your box. Help your children remember to pray as you gather and shop, as you check and pack, and as you deliver the box to the church (by November 9th). Remember to pray for that family on Thanksgiving Day. And thank God that He has blessed your family so that you can help another family.